[imagesource: Ramsey County Deputy’s Federation / Facebook]
In a strange turn of events on Wednesday for people driving along Interstate 35W in Minnesota, America, a plane crashed into an SUV.
The single-engine plane called The Bellanca Viking was forced to make an emergency landing.
While most drivers have experienced some sort of car accident at some point, I’m pretty sure Brittany Yurik, who was behind the wheel of the SUV, never imagined colliding with a plane.
It’s not usually an issue on a highway.
CBS Minnesota spoke to her about the experience.
“I saw [the plane] coming at me probably one second before we collided,” Yurik said.
Her car was totalled, yet Yurik walked away unscathed, as did the pilot, 52-year-old Craig Gifford, and his passenger.
“I talked to [Gifford] last night,” Yurik said. “He’s very kind. He was very apologetic. He explained to me what happened, and I just can’t believe we’re all OK. I think he was feeling the same thing.”
The following footage shows the crash landing, and the aftermath as first responders check on the pilot:
Below is an interview with Janell Harwell of Itasca, who was driving on the interstate after visiting a friend when she saw the plane go down:
Gifford and his passenger got out of the plane and into Harwell’s car to stay warm.
“He said, ‘Yeah, we got up in the air and my engines just failed, my engine completely failed on me, and I had to go down wherever it was safest to go down.’ tried so hard not to hit the woman in the SUV. Like, he just, that was his main thing, trying to avoid a car. And so when he hit her he was pretty distraught because he just didn’t want to hurt anybody,” Harwell said.
Gifford is known to be a highly-skilled and decorated aerobatic flier who managed to land the plane with minimal damage, all considered.
Here’s Dick Knapinski, a fellow pilot with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA):
“When you’re flying, you start looking around saying, ‘Where am I? If something happens, where am I going to set this airplane down safely?’” Knapinski said. “It’s exactly what this pilot did, and you have to give him kudos for doing everything exactly right to keep that down with no injuries.”
Yurik says that while she would never wish to be hit by a plane if it had to happen, she’s glad that Gifford was behind the controls.
An investigation into the cause of the engine failure is underway.
[source:cbsminnesota]
